What About Fly Fishing Knots

One thing that will lose you a lot of fish is poorly tied knots. The last thing you need, when you eventually catch that big trophy fish, is to watch it swim away with your fly in its mouth, and maybe the tippet and leader trailing along as well. Properly tied fly fishing knots are one of the first things you need to get right. And, you need the right one for the job. Many people only know how to tie a granny knot, and it just won’t do.

There are a range of fly fishing knots available. Some are very easy to learn and some are quite complicated, but generally, if you’re a beginner you don’t need the more difficult ones. There is a fairly simple knot available for just about any fly fishing application: Reel to backing, backing to line, line to leader, leader to tippet, and tippet to fly.

One thing that will lose you a lot of fish is poorly tied knots. The last thing you need, when you eventually catch that big trophy fish, is to watch it swim away with your fly in its mouth, and maybe the tippet and leader trailing along as well. Properly tied fly fishing knots are one of the first things you need to get right. And, you need the right one for the job. Many people only know how to tie a granny knot, and it just won’t do.

There are a range of fly fishing knots available. Some are very easy to learn and some are quite complicated, but generally, if you’re a beginner you don’t need the more difficult ones. There is a fairly simple knot available for just about any fly fishing application: Reel to backing, backing to line, line to leader, leader to tippet, and tippet to fly.

Many of the simpler fly fishing knots still retain more than 90% of line strength, provided they are tied properly and moistened with water or saliva before the final tightening. Some fly fishermen seem to want to experiment with every knot in the book, as well as some that aren’t. My advice is, once you found a knot for each join in the line that you are happy with, stick with it. Practice your knots until you can tie them with your eyes shut. Sometimes you will need to tie them in the dark. When you start reeling in big heavy fighting fish, you can start practising the more complicated knots. In my opinion, the fewer knots you have to use, the better. Some people will use two loop knots where one knot will do. Any knot is a potential weak link in the chain. Before using a knot, always test it by tensioning the line. Then inspect it carefully to make sure it’s not starting to come loose. Fishing glue will stop you knots coming loose, but it’s horrible to work with and usually ends up all over your fingers.